Grojband to the Ninth Degree
by mockimi125
Summary: In Grojband, Corey J. Riffin and his older sister Trina don't get along. Why? Because she is a jealous wench who loves treating everyone around her like crap except Nick Mallory. But what if things were different, for everyone in the series and what if Trina was nicer and more talented and supportive of her brother? This alternate universe reveals all the possibilities.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction to Ninth Degree

**CONCEPT IDEA**

The following story takes place in an alternate universe of the Canadian animated series _**Grojband**_, created by **Todd Kauffman** and produced by **Neptoon Studios**. The author that wrote this, that's me, does not own the series or its main characters. However, I do own any other character that is mentioned in this story that has not had a major or minor role in the series _**Grojband**_, and these characters have already been copyrighted, therefore there shall be no copies of the characters I mention that are not major or minor characters in the series. So, don't get any ideas! Also, I want to inform you all that in this alternate universe Corey and his sister Trina get along swimmingly; they're practically best friends. Trina actually allows people to call her by her full first name, Katrina, as she doesn't mind but most people in town, including her friends and family, call her "Kat", so she is referred to at Kat Riffin. She has a bubbly and cheerful personality in this universe, she's nice to her brother and her other best friend, Mina Beff, and is close friends with Nick Mallory. She also legitimately popular and loved by many citizens in her town, she's practically a local celebrity like her bother and Nick Mallory. She's referred to as a "nice Queen Bee", and she is still feared but not because she's mean to people, but because she's super strong and has superb martial-arts skills. She's doesn't go "Diary Mode" as she did in the series, but she does go into "Fight Mode". Fight Mode is just super dangerous, you don't ever want Katrina to go into Fight Mode, it's more dangerous than diary mode. In this universe Mina was born with the name "Mina" not "Bernadette", her middle name, however, is Bernadette. Therefore her full name is Mina Bernadette Beff. She's also less of a pushover in this version and Trina treats like a sister. Nick Mallory is less conceited in this universe yet he is still a nice person and very popular as he was in the original series. He actually speaks in first person instead of in third person, and you'll get to see more of his personality embellished in this universe. Laney, Kin, and Kon are nearly the same, except that Kon doesn't provide the potty humor as he did in the series and Kin has a secret girlfriend that is not Kim Kagami, mind you. Laney wears earrings in this universe and a different ensemble than what she wears in the original series, seeing that she can balance her tomboyish and feminine interests; also she and Carrie Beff are best friends and she and Larry Nepp are first cousins. Corey and Carrie are first cousins on his mother's side, which indeed means that Mina and Trina are indeed cousins too. Kin and Kon are also cousins with Kim and Konnie. So yeah, no shipping is going to go on here.

Corey and Katrina's parents are actually present and alive in this alternate universe, and there will be a lot of embellishing of their respective personalities, and they won't have the ethnic background that you all probably expect, but bare with me here. Also the single parent that adopted Corey and Trina in the original series is revealed in this universe to actually be the younger brother of Corey and Trina's father in this universe. So Corey and Katrina are still actually Riffins, thus explaining why in the episode where the town celebrates Peaceville's 100th anniversary, Corey had a family album showing his great grandfather (apparently Mr. Riffin kept it for that very reason, he's actually related to the kids he adopted). In this alternate universe, Corey and Trina were also adopted by Mr. Riffin (actually their uncle) when they were young but after two years, their real parents returned and reclaimed the custody of their children, because Mr. Riffin was only allowed to be their guardian if his brother and sister-in-law remained missing or were deceased, but in here they are not so the kids live with them. Also Corey and Trina's real father is named Roscoe Riffin and their mother is named Regina, while their adoptive father who is a thriving businessman is named Raymond "Ray" Riffin. Corey is still very popular as he was in the series except he and his friends are revealed to be a geniuses and musical prodigies, and their band are legitimately famous young musicians. They do not have to take any required music classes at their school because they considered young professional musicians by the staff and most of their fans and critics. Corey also dates a lot of girls in his class, and he and Laney have a more platonic relationship (as far as we see). Laney hangs out with the guys a lot, especially Corey, but she also has female friends including Carrie to hang out with. Also, Buzz Newsworthy and Chance happening are married in this universe and Mayor Mellow is less tyrannical and extreme than he was in the original series. Almost everything with some other people in Peaceville is the same, but this universe will have an explanation as to why the town is so weird sometimes. I call this story series **Ninth Degree**, named after the song _Ninth Degree_ by the rock band **Morningwood. No copies, period!**

** Enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2: 365 Vegetarian Nights

**365 Vegetarian Nights**

"I'm serious, man", said James, "Riley Cyprus is has started to really prove her talent to the masses. She's seems like she knows what she's doing."Corey Riffin, his band mates, two other friends from school and his older sister, Katrina were making their way inside a new vegetarian themed restaurant that had opened up three months before. For Corey and his best friends it was the first time that they had entered the restaurant and they were so excited to finally be able to get a chance to go dine in it. "Are you kidding," Corey asked rather annoyed by his friend's comment, "Riley Cyprus has talent, yes, but she is totally throwing away the opportunity to truly show everyone that by all the twerking, pole-licking and nose-picking she keeps doing at her concerts. People came to see a girl sing her music not go to 'Skanks R Us'!" Laney rolled her eyes at the pointless conversation Corey was having his friend, James, a blond, spiky-haired kid who played defense on the Elementary High football team. James was one of the most popular students at his school aside from his friend Corey Riffin, Corey's sister Katrina, Nick Mallory, and a few other kids the two boys associated with. "Whatever, dude, I'm just saying that she's being pretty clever with that "skank-from-the-dumpster" crap she's pulling," said James, "It's like I'm looking at another Kasha." Corey rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, "There is absolutely no way she is like Kasha, or should I say Kay-"at" logogram-SHA. "Ugh," Laney groaned, "You guys knock it off, we came here to find a seat and eat at a fancy new restaurant, not argue about talentless hacks that have over-stayed their welcome in the music industry." The boys looked at her puzzlingly, Laney turned around and resumed to her own thoughts about the restaurant.

"Man, I am so excited to see what they have on the menu," stated Laney, "Finally I get to eat at this "high-end" restaurant that everyone has been hyping up for the past few months." Corey placed one arm around his best friend as he smiled looking towards the plethora of customers sitting at their tables devouring their vegetable-based meals.

"Yeah," he said cheerfully, "we could probably use this place as our new hangout and maybe we could get a gig here. What do you think?" Laney looked over to him as he continued to look at the interior of the restaurant, "That sounds good. We could schedule a performance before we go on our world tour."

"Exactly," Corey exclaimed. Grojband was going to travel the seven continents on a world tour. They called their tour the "Rockersize World Tour" and spent months planning for it. Corey had spent 15 weeks writing new songs for the band to perform. In addition to the 14 songs that were on their second album, he composed an additional seven to introduce to the masses of fans that the band had gained over the past two years. Normally it would take a group of youngsters their age a few more years to get noticed enough by people to dig themselves out of the bottomless pit that was obscurity, but not for them. Despite the name of their band sounding to most people like the name of a band of untalented rejects, Grojband had proven them wrong. Their success was credited to their lead singer, Corey who was a lyrical genius leading a band of four musical prodigies. He was like a prodigious music making machine and had the passion and talent of some of the best in the business. He also had the support of his equally talented older sister Katrina, who friends called "Kat". She was referred to as the "token older kid" of the band, their fifth ranger. She worked as their music video producer and occasional lyricist and the band loved having her around.

"Um guys, I don't think that will be the case," said Katrina pointing over to the crowd of people sitting in the restaurant, "They look pretty full." Corey and Laney glanced over to Kat who was looking rather disappointed at the lack of space available in the restaurant. "Aw dang it," Corey groaned as he did a face-palm, "This is one of the restaurants I've waited my whole life to go to ever since three months ago." He clasped his hands together as if he was begging for someone to appeal to his desires, "Now where are we gonna go?" Laney put a hand on his left shoulder as she stood by him, Corey's pleading eyes shifted towards her, "Relax, Core, there are some other restaurants that we could go to, we just need to look."

"Yeah," said Kon who had been standing silently behind Laney along with his bi-speckled twin brother, "We could totally go to that other new restaurant around the corner. You know, the uh…what's it called again?" "It's called 'The Meat & Greet', bro," Kin answered. "Gah," Corey griped with his shoulders sulking, "But that's a meat-based restaurant and, honestly, I like meat as much as the next guy, but my sister and I had taken the challenge to eat nothing but veggies for the next five months."

"And how has that been going?" asked Laney. "Corey looked over to Laney then to the floor as if he was pondering something, "Eh, pretty good, I guess. I mean, all the fiber I've chugged down has me a little gassy and I've been tooting a lot but it's been pretty good." "Yeah," added Kon, "And you nailed it at that farting contest we had the other day." Corey and Kon smiled as they pounded fists. Laney rolled her eyes again; thank goodness she actually had other girls to hang out with while the boys had been stinking up the garage with their explosive gas last Wednesday, because if she was there she would have passed out due to the fumes.

"Yeah, totally," said Corey, "The only problem that I have, however, is that my belly apparently can't handle tofu. It always messes with my stomach." With that he let out a loud belch in Laney's face and then sighed with relief, "Ah, that's better." Laney responded by giving him a disgusted look; She could not believe Corey just burped in her face like that and in public too! She felt like slapping him but she digressed. He was lucky that his burp was minty fresh otherwise she would have yelled at him in front of everyone. Corey noticed Laney glaring at him, and he just responded with a smile and a wink. Katrina made her way through the door and called back to the group of younger teenagers, "Okay, guys, let's move over to The Meat & Greet to grab some burgers or something." The others followed her and as she turned away she groaned; that meat restaurant was probably not going to even have anything she and her brother could eat that would not stop over her goal to go months without eating nothing but vegetables. She had considered voting to go to another restaurant but she did not want to waste time bringing up other options only for the others to get her involved in an argument over where they were going to be eating out. They made it around the corner and entered the building. The interior was red and black; red walls, black poles that supported them, red and black tiled floors and comfy-looking, black, leather chairs place at nice round tables covered by white table covers with a candle placed in the center. "Whoa," the kids exclaimed in unison. "Wow," it's pretty fancy said Corey," pretty fancy for a meat-themed restaurant I mean; it doesn't look meat-themed at all actually."

"Meh, it's all right," said an unimpressed Laney. She was a devout vegetarian and had been one ever since she was six. She did not want to eat in a meat-themed restaurant where people spend time eating innocent animals just because they are "lower on the food chain"; she thought that was too inhumane. The group had barely made it through the arch that preceded the room once they made it pass the glass door. Everyone was just standing in awe at the extravagance of the place. "Welcome to 'The Meat & Greet'," a waiter said as he approached them, "how many people do we have here?" The man was a very slender Caucasian male, young looking with dark and well combed hair and a long mustache that curled on each side. He had a pen and pad in his hand. "We've got seven," stated Kat. The waiter nodded and led them over to a big round table with sounding leather lounge seats and they all sat down.

"I really hope they have a vegan section on their menu," Laney said as she looked inside hers and skimmed through the meal descriptions. "Me too," said Katrina, "Look what they have here." She pointed to one meal description in her menu as Laney looked over to see what was on her friend's menu, "Horse meat on a stick?"

"Yeah," said Katrina, "Like ew!" "I don't get what you guys are buggin' about," said James, "Meat is too delicious to resist." "Yeah," said Corey's other friend Joshua, who had not said anything up to that point, "It's the order of the food-chain. Meat isn't worth giving up; there should be no reason for you guys to give it up for even six months." "Oh yes it is," said Laney.

"Oh yeah, how so?" asked Joshua. "Let me elaborate for a sec," said Corey as he stood up from his seat as a random spotlight flashed onto him suddenly, "We all know that meat is a delicious thing that has graced our mouths for so long. Food such as meat is so juicy, so nice and brown, and sometimes even so spicy that we cannot resist the taste. But… there is a dark side to meat. A side so dark that if you walk in it you might get lost and all of a sudden you might find yourself falling down a flight of stairs while there is no light and when you are on the floor and you cannot get up, no one will be able to hear you because you'll be all alone with no one answering your calls, like an elderly woman who has broken her hip and spilled over her milk and cookies all because she was too distracted by the shocking scene she spotted on one of her Spanish soap operas!" Corey let out a loud gasp, and everyone at his table looked at his with a confused expression on their faces. Just what the heck was he even saying? Their facial expressions did not phase Corey, however, he looked at everyone and continued his explanation, "Okay, so, what I'm saying is there are all different types of meats that we usually eat daily."

"Sure, that's what you were saying." Laney said sarcastically. "Listen Core," she began, "I think you-,"but before she could get even a word out, Corey slapped his hand over her mouth as if he was signaling her to "Shut up, and not act like such a worry-wart" which is what he told her once when she was going to give her two-cents about another action he was planning on doing. "Some meats are road-kill," Corey, "And they're filled with parasites and sometimes not even cooked well or properly washed. But worst of all, sometimes it's not even actual animal meat that we could possibly be eating. Sometimes it's actually dun, dun, dun…HUMAN MEAT!" Corey raised his hands in the air as if he was telling a ghost story around the camp fire and trying to scare the other campers.

"Human meat?!" Kin and Kon screamed as they wrapped their arms around eachother in fear. They caught the attention of some of the other people in the restaurant. "No, no, no," the waiter reassured them as he came to their table waving his hands as a signal for the costumers to continue eating their meals, "We do not serve human meat here. I assure you all that our meats are always doubled checked and our chef cooks nothing but the best." He turned to Corey, "Sir, will you please stop scaring the other customers?" "Sorry, sir," Corey apologized sheepishly as he sat back down. "Now, what are you all having tonight," asked the waiter, "Burgers or something." Laney did not like the way the waiter asked that question; he sounded pompous.

Everyone made their orders, only Corey, Katrina, and Laney asked for something more vegetarian. To their dismay, the waiter told them that there were no vegetarian meals on the menu. He did offer, however, a bowl of ramen noodles with vegetables available and the meat removed from the meal to which they agreed. After that everyone talked to eachother as they waited for their meals and drinks to arrive.

After about ten minutes of waiting, the waiter returned with their food. Laney looked out to the rest of the room and she began to notice something. Passing by around some tables where people were eating, there was a large, tanned-skinned, black-haired, husky looking man with an angry look on his face, following him was a young brown-haired boy dressed in nothing but black. Black shoes, black turtle-neck and black pants, and a look of confusion and fear on his face. They were entering a dark room through burgundy colored curtains hanging on the entry way. Laney felt a chill reach up her spine. She was feeling really uneasy all of a sudden in the place that she was in. She felt like she had seen the big man on television before but she could not put her finger on it before, nor did she understand why he was carrying an ax in his hand and no one was noticing this but her.

"Man," said James, "This Wahoo burger is sooo good! Aw man!" He and Joshua were just scarfing down their burgers like it was no one's business, with little burps escaping from his mouths here and there. Corey belched a couple of times as well from eating the tofu that was in his bowl of noodles, except this time he was burping with his mouth closed and had actually decided to excuse himself unlike earlier. Laney went back to eating her noodles and ceased looking at everyone else. Two minutes later the same little boy she had seen that was following the large man ran out of the dark room and screamed for his mother who was on the other side of the room. It startled everyone who was trying to eat their food. They boy's mother, who was sitting at the table with the rest of his family, sat in her chair with open arms all confused as he came and hugged her. "Jeremy," she said, "I thought you were in the bathroom."

"I was, mama, I was, but then this really big chef guy came into the bathroom and told me that he was going to give me candy if I follow him, and I said "No", but then he did something to me and I passed out, next thing I knew I was in a dark, dark, dark room and then…and then," the boy had spoken so fast he was running out of breath, "He had an ax, mama, the big scary guy had an ax in his hand and when I woke up I was laying on a big tree stump and he tried to chop me up with that ax, mama, he tried to chop me up!" The mother was stunned. The room fell silent. As Laney looked at the little boy just as everyone else, she realized who she had spotted leading the boy into the dark room: Kenny the Cannibal. There was a criminal who had previously been thrown in prison named Kenny the Cannibal. He had been arrested for kidnapping children and young teenagers and turning them into meat products to sell at his small corner store around the block. The empty store was now abandoned and plastered with wood and yellow taped saying 'DO NOT ENTER'. She had seen his mug shot shown on a news report stating that he had escaped prison and was out on the prowl looking for new meat to use as food. Not surprising that he would do this at a high-end restaurant. Kenny came out of the room and just before he had a chance to escape to the kitchen, a kid pointed at him and yelled, "Oh my gosh, it's Kenny the Cannibal! Everybody run!"

Suddenly a bunch of customers got up from their seats screaming and running out of the door, others scrambled to even get by. The waiter tried to get people to come down but his reassurance was to no avail. "This cannot be happening, Core," said Joshua, "I've been eating here for the past few weeks, that guy is so nice. He cannot possibly be that crook. This burger isn't made of human meat; it couldn't possibly be."

"I bet it is and I am so glad I had never come to this restaurant before," stated Corey. "Me too," agreed both Laney and Kat. Cops who conveniently happened to be at the restaurant recognized the crook and chased him as he ran off knocking over some tables and chairs. A woman began to scream as she spotted an eye ball in her burger. There were people vomiting everywhere all of a sudden, and even Kin and Kon threw up under the table from disgust. The rest of the group just sat there looking at all the chaos that was happening before them. Joshua still attempted to eat he burger but then he stopped and stared at his meal with the most fearful look on his face. A finger was sticking out of his Wahoo burger, "Oh my-oh my friggin' gosh!" He suddenly covered his mouth feeling so nauseous. Laney sat back slowly shaking her head in disbelief. Corey leaned over to Joshua, who was trying to keep himself from vomiting, so he could snag the opportunity to rub in his friend's face how right he was, "See? I told you so. This is why you should find out what you'll actually be eating before you decide to eat any kind of meat."

"That's it," said James, "I'm going vegetarian. I'm doing it for 365 vegetarian days and 365 vegetarian nights." Then he proceeded to vomit under the table with Kin and Kon.

Corey, Laney and Katrina moved away from their nauseous friends as they exclaimed, "Ewww!"

**The End.**


	3. Chapter 3:The Spell, part 1

**The Spell, part 1**

"Lower…lower…just a little more," Corey groaned, "Touch that spot right there, I want you to rub it really good." There was a sudden beeping sound. "Aw man… this blows!"

"What", asked Laney, "What I'm doing for you? Core, you're lucky that I even agreed to do this job for you at all."

"No, no, no", Corey apologized, "You're doing great. I wasn't talking about you; I was talking about my phone. It just died on me. By all means, please, keep going; I want you to rub that area especially. Rub it hard."

"Okay," Laney said, "I'm going to do a shiatsu instead, okay?" "Okay, that's cool," Corey replied nonchalantly.

Laney was giving her friend a deep-tissue massage that her older cousin, Chloe taught her the last time she visited her house. They were having a sleep over and Chloe taught Laney a number of very good massage techniques that could instantly ease the pain on a certain body part and instantly put someone into relaxed mode. Now Laney was trying to use those same techniques on her best friend, Corey Riffin who was idly lying on his belly. He enjoyed being totally relaxed on his bed while his friend was tending to his dorsal needs. "Go up," he commanded. She went up and continued rubbing. "Go down now," his tone did not sound sincere this time; it sounded quite pompous like a pampered rich kid making a command for his butler to carry out a task for him. Nonetheless, she went down just as he had demanded, though quite hesitantly. "Ah, yeah," he sighed, "That's better. That is so much better." As she continued, Laney rolled her eyes and smiled. Corey was lucky to have a friend like her by his side to do this for him. Most of his other friends, his popular friends, wouldn't even bother to help him with his aching back if he were to ask and if it was one of his guy friends, there would be a definite "No", mostly because it they were afraid it would cause people to question their sexuality. Even if he was popular at school and was a local celebrity around town, his friends still treated him like he was just a regular guy. His parents even tried their best to raise him to be like a regular kid. He just always did his chores at home: wash the dishes, clean all the bedrooms in the house, mop the floors, tend to the family garden in the back yard, clean the windows, et cetera, et cetera.

Corey was a kid who one would expect to be basking in a lab of luxury though, his parents, not his adoptive father/uncle Raymond who he and his sister lived with for a few years, but his actual birth parents who were healthy and alive were rich entrepreneurs. They were once rock stars like their son and lived the crazy rock musician lifestyle that came with the musical profession. The only difference was that they didn't spend their free time drinking and doing drugs like other musicians they had known. They spent their free time studying mathematics and business while taking college courses during the summer. By the time the two of them graduated high school together, Roscoe at 17 and Regina at 16, they went on to start their own business together as record producers and opened their own enterprise. After a few years they were able to buy two more companies, and they were racking up cash like it was nobody's business. They were producers for all kinds of celebrities, and their children got opportunities to even meet many of these young stars. Hence the reason many kids at Corey's school were sometimes jealous of him. He had rich parents who they were sure spoiled him and his older sister with everything from a big bedroom filled with really cool stuff to a music career handed to him like so. They were wrong. Corey and Katrina always did work, always. Their parents spent weekends home-schooling them on the concepts of music, art, and dance ever since they were young children. They made them spend weeks reading recommended books about the subjects and helping them learn other subjects early like middles school math and Algebra so they can be ahead of the class when they finally get older and have to learn it again. After the age of 7, Corey was required by his parents to learn more about music on his own and discover new genres. Corey spent years reading so that he could become a savant on the topic. His father did not even want to buy him musical instruments; he made Corey raise money by working around the house for meager allowances he could save up until he had enough money to buy his first electric guitar. As for Katrina, she wanted to become a Broadway star, and an artist, and she was a very talented dancer. Her mother made her practice dance every weekend until she was 9 years old and was left to continue practicing and learning new dances on her own. Always competing in dance competitions, she always won favor from the crowd and judges and the jealousy of the other contestants.

Both children were docile and disciplined but not always well-behaved; and their parents were very strict. Once when they refused to clean up their bedrooms, their parents punished them by making them sleep outside in the backyard with nothing but sleeping bags, a frying pan to cook meals over a campfire, and a tent to enjoy the rest of the night with. So, people obviously thought wrong about Corey and his sister; they were not "rich kids", they were just the children of their rich parents.

Corey had been doing some important house work that his parents had ordered him to do. He had woken up at 6:30 in the morning so he could wash the dishes, sweep the floors, clean the toilets, write a song for his band to perform on any given day at any given event, and then tend to the garden. He did all of his regular weekend morning-chores in one hour, and worked on the entire garden for the remaining four hours. Laney had come over for a visit to find Corey slumped on the couch, refusing to move because of the back pain he was suffering from, and she had him walk up the stairs to his bedroom just to give him a massage because Corey did not want to have it done on the couch.

So, Laney and Corey carried on a conversation as she busied herself with easing his pain. She was performing that she shiatsu on his back when something important had crossed her mind: The band needed a new music video for their latest song, and Katrina had not made it yet. Laney knew that Katrina was more than capable of finishing it soon, but she just wanted to make sure nothing would get in the way of her finishing it by the set deadline. After all, it was Laney's job as the band's manager to handle affairs such as this and make sure everything went well, from making sure Corey writes his lyrics for the band to perform to getting a new place for the band to play at. The band's promotional music video was set to premiere in a couple of days; so, she decided to pop a question. "Hey, Core, has Kat made that music video for our latest song yet?" asked Laney. "No," Corey replied, "But she's working on it. She said that we have to give her, like, two more days because she's been busy taking care of some stuff for student council, and she has to organize the next meeting." On top of her role as head cheerleader at Elementary High, Katrina was President of the Student Council, Senior Editor of the school newspaper, President of the Spirit Committee, President of the Dance Club, and President of the Elementary High Gamers Club, where she went to compete against other video game lovers in Room 302. She was often preoccupied with her role as the President of Student Council, and the many tasks she often had to complete every week. It was tough and stressful at times but she often handled her obligations very well and kept things in tip-top shape.

"Well, okay," said Laney, "I hope she finishes it quickly, because we have to post it by our deadline…which is tomorrow, need I remind you." "_Oh my gosh, Lanes,"_ thought Corey, "_I know, already."_

"Don't worry. We'll extend the deadline," said Corey, "And then…we will have time."

"You sure about that, Core? Because I do not to have things posted late again," replied Lanes.

"Lanes, please," said Corey, "Everything is going to be totally cool. I'll post it whenever I can and whenever I feel it's good. It's not like fans will go seriously ballistic if we don't post it exactly the day we promised them. Geez!"

"Oh, really?" asked Laney, who was not buying his answer, "Because you said the same thing last time we were dealing with the same problem and you didn't do it then, so fans sent us e-mails asking why we weren't posting any of our new videos that we promised we going to be posted that very night. And then the very night you said you were going to have it posted when she had finished it that night, and you didn't even post it then. You left it un-posted for more than five days. Fans got so upset that they started sending us random hate-mail, and calling us "liars"."

"_Oh my goodness; Laney, please, shut up," _he thought again, "_Why is she always such a nag? It's always 'Corey, why don't you do this' and 'guys, why don't you do that'. Like, seriously, doesn't she know that I'm already planning ahead? I like organized a boat load of our operations anyway and already have things planned out. Everything always has a solution hiding somewhere and she's, like, always bugging me for lyrics, deadlines, art work, paying her back money, yaddy-yaddy-yadda. Like, my gosh, I have it covered already, shut up!"_

Laney stopped the massage she was giving her best friend as soon as she noticed him rolling his eyes giving a deep sigh and suddenly staring angrily at the wall before him like he was giving it a death glare. She guessed that her questions might have come off as nagging and he hardly felt like answering them. The last time she even bothered asking further questions while he was in this shape, he yelled at her and insulted her and called her a "butt-hurt nag". She was usually tough and could fight off anyone who dare insulted her; her fights usually ended with her winning and the loser getting two black eyes, but Corey was someone she deeply cared about. The day he yelled at her like that and shoved those hurtful words in her face really tugged at her heart-strings and made her cry. Worst of all, that day, Corey didn't even apologize for what he said to her, he was convinced that she deserved it and he had no reason to feel remorse for what he did to her. Laney went home, later deciding to forgive him even though he still refused to acknowledge how much he really hurt her. Now it was the second time she had asked him to take care of certain task before the deadline hit, and it looked like the same thing was going to happen so Laney backed away from the bed with a worried look on her face as Corey decided to get up and stretch out his back. He took his angry eyes off the wall, and turned to her, "Why did you stop," he asked in a calm tone, "Are you done?"

"I figured that your back is okay now," she replied. Corey looked into her eyes; he could see that she seemed rather worried about something other than the deadline. To him, her eyes gave away that she was upset about something, he decided that though he probably should ask her if she's okay, whatever it was probably was not that important or a big deal. "Listen," Corey said continuing with a calm voice, "Katrina's busy right now; you know that, I know that, even Kin and Kon know that. I'm also busy planning for our world tour and I know you're also managing it. Everybody has a part that they are going to do, so all we have to do is do our part and wait for the others, all right?"

"Fine," Laney said crossing her arms as she rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry; I guess I overreacted just a little bit. I was just a little stressed about everything that's happening and stuff. I just wanted to—". "Yup, yup," Corey said, cutting her off, "You were worried about the fans and the band's reputation and such-and-such stuff. I really appreciate that, but like I said, we all are doing our part, so there's no need to worry about stuff, okay? Quit acting so dense and stop agitating me with all that butt-hurt nagging of yours!" There was the word again, his last insult had popped up like a geyser at Yellowstone Park, and the word 'dense' had really stabbed through Laney's heart like a shard of glass. Laney felt her eyes get a little watery. Why was Corey all of a sudden attacking her like that? For Pete's sake , he just called her stupid. What was his deal; was he that frustrated from all the work he had been doing for the last few days that whether or not he hurt other people's feelings didn't matter to him? It seemed so. "Okay then", he continued, "You know what? I am so tired, and I feel agitated right now, so I think it would be great for me to have my little nap so I can relax. So, you can get out now and be on your way. Don't let the door hit you on your way out, okay?" Corey turned around and lay on his side as he tried to cover himself. Laney just stood there staring at him with a befuddled look on her face, Corey had spoken so fast after he cut her off that she was trying to take it all in and was wondering why he was speaking at such a speed. His tone of voice changed swiftly from calm to irritated. She began to wonder if she was truly bothering him? He was being so rude; did he seriously just say to her "Don't let the door hit you on the way out"? He didn't even say a 'Thank You' for the massage she was so kind enough to give him; what was with him?

She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but he just cut her off again and shooed her away. "Don't say anything; just get out," he said with a wave of his hand. Laney shook her head and made her way towards the door. Before she even touched the knob, there was a knock on the door.


	4. Chapter 4: The spell, part 2

**The Spell, part 2**

She opened the door to find a pudgy, brown-haired, pale-face, blue-eyed little boy standing before her in his white shirt, black tie, and brown slacks looking rather worried about something. This young lad was Corey's younger cousin, Tommy, who had come to stay for the afternoon because Corey had to babysit him for the afternoon. "Hey Tommy," said Laney in a slightly perky voice, "How are you doing? You look anxious; is everything all right?" "Yeah," Tommy replied still in an anxious manner, "I'm fine. Can I please talk to Corey…please?" "Uh yeah," Laney nodded, "Of course. Just be easy on him; He isn't quite in a good mood." She stepped to the side so Tommy could make his way through the entrance and slowly closed the door behind her as she was looking back snagging a glimpse of Tommy cautiously trying to wake up his older cousin.

Laney walked downstairs into the living room that was near the kitchen. She plopped herself right onto the nice suede, red couch and grabbed the remote to turn on the television as if she was one of the people who lived in the house. Why shouldn't she? She came to her friend, Corey's place every day anyway. She always ate whatever Kat was serving her and Corey for dinner that night; she spent time in the afternoon either working with Corey on a new episode of his web series or rehearsing with the band; she even had slept over at his house several times before. So, it seemed likely that neither Kat nor Corey would mind if she helped herself to anything in their fridge, whilst being considerate of what foods and beverages they want untouched, or watching stuff on their television without having to ask for permission. She practically lived at the house.

Fifteen minutes of television time had pass when Laney's stomach started growling and she decided she was going to get something from the fridge. Before she even got off the couch, she used the remote to turn down the volume while the commercials were playing. She was struggling a bit to rise up from the couch; it appeared that her butt was tired after sitting on the couch for more than ten minutes. Suddenly as she was just glancing at the television screen, she heard a pitter-pattering sound coming from behind her. The sound grew a bit louder as she turned around so she decided to look over the couch to see who was behind it; no one was there. She shrugged her arms and turned back to the television to find Kat staring at her with a cheerful smile on her face, which bared all her pearly-white teeth, startling Laney enough for her to jump back and fall back onto the couch. Kat stopped smiling, "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry," She apologized as she helped her back up, "Are you all right? I honestly did not mean to scare you like that. I just saw that you were here and just wanted to know if you wanted to talk or something. Laney was panting with her hand placed on her chest, after a few seconds she stopped. "Okay…yeah, I'm fine," she finally replied, "Kat, please do not scare me like that again; you know I don't like surprises."

"Sorry…again," Kat apologized once more, "You all right now?" "Yeah, I said I am," replied Laney reassuring her friend, "So, what did you come to talk to me about?"

"Honestly," Kat began, "I just came over to see how you were doing. I overheard how Corey was talking to you while I was passing by the bedroom and I've been noticing how upset you looked while you were on the couch. I wanted to know if everything is all right with you two because I know last time he really hurt you feelings and you seemed really upset, and you guys didn't talk for a week so, you know, I totally wanted to let you know that I'm there to talk to if you need me…and stuff. Laney looked at Kat with an unsure expression on her face, Kat had spoken at the same rapid speed as her brother while Laney was in the room with him, and Laney was trying to put everything she said together in her head so she could understand what the pink-haired girl had just said. "Sorry, did I speak too fast?" asked Kat. Wow, it's almost as if she just read Laney's mind. "Um, yeah… a bit. But it's fine, I understand," replied Laney rubbing her forehead, "Everything's…not that bad, but honestly I think right now Core is just in a bad mood and I just decided to take a break from being around him to give him some space and get some of my own."

"Oh, okay," said Kat, "I just thought that you guys were having something more serious and I wanted to make sure he didn't do anything mean to you. I had to have a stern talk with him last time about what he said to you and stuff, you know."

"Yeah, well, he just kicked me out of the bedroom," said Laney.

"Oh, he did? Why?"

"He didn't want me to "nag him" like I did last time, I guess. I don't know what's up him; lately he's always so grumpy around me when we're alone in the afternoon and stuff," said Laney in a saddened tone, "It's like after rehearsal or whenever we finish making episodes, that happy disposition of his has left the building and he doesn't want anything to do with me." Laney's head dropped down as she said this; Kat felt pity for her little red-headed friend, so she tried embracing her in a hug to make her feel a little better. "Did he even apologize last time you guys had that argument?" she asked. "Nope," replied Laney, "I forgave him anyway, however. I didn't want our friendship to be wrecked over a stupid fight. And Corey may be a bone-head sometimes, but he's still my best bud. You know?" "Yeah, yeah," Katrina replied as if she brushed off the last part of that response, "But still he shouldn't be attacking you like that. I don't know if he's sick again like he was last week or had a bad day, but if anything ever escalates, you can come tell me and I will talk it over with him, okay?" Laney looked up at Katrina; her tone of voice had changed from slightly girly and childish to a more serious and kind of motherly one. It was reassuring to have someone be her advocate in case things were to go wrong again between her and Corey, it made her feel sure that everything would be all right. Laney nodded with a smile, and afterwards her and Katrina got off the couch and made their way into the kitchen. Katrina grabbed her burgundy colored, leather that was sitting on the chair and her purse that was on the isle. Laney checked for something to eat inside the fridge as Kat threw on her jacket and made her way through the door. "Tell Corey that if he needs anything while I'm out, he could call me on my cell phone, okay?" she called back to Laney. Laney looked over at her and nodded as Kat had her hand on the door knob. "Also there is some leftover mac n' cheese on the second level of the fridge; just grab and warm it up." "Okay, thanks," Laney said. Kat smiled then left.

After Laney finished warming up the macaroni in the microwave she got it out and grabbed a fork to start eating. Right before she got a chance to place the food in her mouth, she heard Corey calling her all the way from his bedroom. "Can you come up here please," Corey asked, yelling down to her from the top of the stairs.

Laney hesitated for a minute because she was unsure if she even wanted to go back to Corey's bedroom for anything at all after the way he had treated her. She decided she would go up anyway, but only because she had realized that she had left her pink and green beaded bracelets on his desk when she left the bedroom and she wanted to have it back. "Could I bring my macaroni with me upstairs?" she asked him as she poked her head out of the kitchen and looked up at him. "Yeah, sure you can," He said shrugging his arms, "Just come up. Tommy needs you to help him with something."

Laney walked up the stairs, shoving her mac n' cheese into her mouth with her fork as she climbed each step. When she finally reached the top she went inside and found Tommy standing in the middle of the room and Corey typing up a document on his computer and sipping from the straw of his one of his smoothies that was sitting in a metallic cup-holder. "Uh, why are you drinking from two smoothies?" she asked.

"Well, I couldn't decide if I wanted to drink a banana smoothie or a strawberry smoothie," replied Corey, "So, I decided to drink both and enjoy twice the happy!" He said this with such a jovial and perky expression on his face, while holding up two figures to represent "twice the happy" of smoothies that he was enjoying. Laney raised an eyebrow as she stared at her blue-haired friend. It was nice that he was back to his normal, sprightly, energetic self and she could see that she was more relaxed now than before, but she was still mad at him for what he said to her earlier. "Well, that's nice," she said in an unimpressed manner as she walked by him to the other side of his desk. Corey turned to Tommy, who was standing in the center of the room still waiting for his older cousin to answer a question he had asked earlier while Laney was downstairs. "Dude, I'm sorry to say this, but No," Corey said, "I ain't doin' it."

"Really, why not," asked Tommy anxiously, "You said you might be able to help me; why did you suddenly change your mind?" "Because, Tommy, my boy, I can't do it," Corey replied shrugging his shoulders, "I just can't help you, it's too last minute." Laney was confused, what had she been called for anyway and what was this issue that was going on? "Okay, stop, stop, stop," Laney said as she put her plate of macaroni on her friend's desk, "What is going on between you two, and Core, why on earth did you call me up here for anyway?" Corey sighed in response. "Tommy's having this Halloween festival at his school that's tonight and he wants me to help him with his display and make it scarier so he won't be made fun of for not having a scary display. But, I told him already that I can't help him; I can't do anything."

"Why not," asked Tommy, "You've summoned zombie out of a cemetery before, and I've seen you summon demons, ghosts, witches, angels, monsters, and other random stuff before. Why can't you help me?" "Eh, okay, you got a point," said Corey, "But, I have to say, the zombie thing was actually an accident; I never intended to bring it to life. That demonic stereo that we brought was the real reason why the zombies even rose from the dead."

"Well, either way, I need something to make my display more cool," exclaimed Tobey who was now nervously pacing the floor, "Every kid is gonna have some super-cool hunted house, and crazy, scary rollercoaster rides that scare the crud out of people and make them shart in their pants, and all I'm gonna have is this dinky, stupid, reject of a display that has a stupid paper cut-out of a small ghost. I need to have something quick so I don't become the laughing stock at school when we go back on Monday!" Corey looked at his chattering little cousin with total apathy as he continued slurping his strawberry smoothie. Once he was half-way done with it, he stopped sipping and let out two small burps and placed his cup back on his desk, and then he turned back to Tommy.

"Okay, okay, chill, man," said Corey reassuringly as he gestured him to stop talking, "Don't worry, since it's that important to you, I'll do something. But, I have to warn you, if I have to summon supernatural creatures and you do anything stupid to mess everything up, it's not on me, it's on you." Laney stood staring at Corey as he started cracking his knuckles in preparation of doing his summoning spell. It was one of the many secrets about her friend Corey that he kept hidden from everyone else except her, his sister, his friend Rebecca, and his little cousin Tommy. Corey had the supernatural ability to summon all sorts of creatures at will from angels to demons, ghosts of the deceased, witches, and demon monsters, imaginary monsters that he could create with his mind, and even summon people by use of his teleportation spell. Corey learned how to do this at a young age when he was five-years-old and just learning how to use all of his special powers. He had come across a forbidden black book that was stored on the shelf of the downstairs basement. In it were pages and pages filled with spells on how to do many different things pertaining to summoning mortal and immortal creatures, and exorcism. All of it was written in Latin, which Corey already knew, thanks to his mother who decided to teach him the language up until he was five-years-of-age. He was able to memorize all of these spells within two days amazingly and once he did he decided to try and practice his new found ability.

He had gone up to his room one day, holding two gray rats that he had found scurrying in the backyard one day. He decided that he was going to experiment with the two furry little critters by attempting to bring their souls out of their bodies. He carried out the experiment, using his telekinesis to raise the two poor creatures and having their noses point upward towards the ceiling as they squeaked for mercy. Corey starting chanting one of his summoning spells for exorcism, or so he thought. That day, the color of the sky had turned a dark red and the weather had changed from sunny and lacking of clouds to stormy and ominous as the wind began to blow furiously. A dark mist started swirling around him and he could suddenly hear heavy breathing coming from behind him as if a wild beast was standing there ready to feat on its prey. Corey began to sweat and his knees started to quiver as he kept his arms in the raised position he had them when he was chanting a spell. That's when Corey realized that he had made a big mistake: He did not do an exorcism spell like he had previously thought.

"So, what happened that day?" asked Tommy who was being told the story as Corey was readying himself to do the ritual. "I…actually ended up summoning demons instead and nearly brought an apocalypse on the entire town," answered Corey nonchalantly. "You did what?" Tommy asked in disbelief. "I accidently sent demons out to attack everybody, kill a few people and nearly caused the town and all its citizens to be destroyed…except for me, of course." He was saying this with such casualty as if nothing much had even happened that day, it baffled Tommy as he continued to stare at his older cousin puzzlingly. At one point Tommy glanced at Laney who was crossing her arms and looking at him with the same worried look, her eyes shifting to Corey and then back to him, then giving him that look that said, "I know, he kind of scares me sometimes too."

"I know what I did," Corey said in a informal and relaxed manner as he shrugged his arms, "I mean, like, seven people were severely injured by the attacks, and three people died due to being ripped to shreds by those demon monsters, including one little boy; a little girl, who was my neighbor next door at the time, lost her precious puppy that day that she had gotten for her birthday. It was eaten by one of the demons; Mayor Mellow's mother died from a heart-attack a result of the small earthquake that ended up happening that day; and Mount Peaceville almost erupted."

"Mount Peaceville erupted?" repeated Tommy in shock. Corey smiled and tapped him on his nose, "Almost. It almost did." Laney was now frightened; she had no idea that the Peaceville earthquake of 2005 was her best friend's fault. Hearing that made her wonder who else did he accidently ended up murdering in his lifetime and what other horrible events were actually his doing. "Oh my gosh, Core," she exclaimed, "You mean you killed Mayor Mellow's mother and murdered Tabitha 's dog?" Corey looked down to the floor, his smile turning into a frown as he fidgeted with his fingers sheepishly. "Yes," he sighed, "Yes, I did. Everyone's misery was totally my fault. And…honestly, if I knew how to I'd go back in time and stop my younger self from ever learning that spell and misusing it. This is why I'm a little apprehensive right now in helping make your display "cool" by using my powers. Last time I really screwed up, and even though now I know better and know how to properly use my gifts, I need to make sure that I never screw up like that again. So, I will help you, but only on one condition."

"What is it?" Tommy asked. "You are gonna to be held responsible for making sure all three ghostly people that I'm about to summon for you must be together by 12:01 midnight so I could send them back to their graves," Corey responded, " If they aren't with you in a group of three their wandering souls will not go back to their graves and they will fly free, free to terrorize those at the festival and they will ruin the rest of the night for all of us. So be careful, got it?" Tommy nodded, he was confident that he could handle the task, "Okay, I got it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; hold up," said Laney, "You just explained that you nearly caused an apocalypse and ended up killing some people _because _you had summoned spirits, and now you're gonna saddle your naïve little cousin with the tasks of rounding up a few ghosts at the risk of us being potentially thrown in another cataclysmic disaster?!" As she asked this, Corey looked at her with another annoyed looked on his face and rolled his eyes, "Lanes, don't worry; Tommy can handle this. Besides, I've been bettering my skills so chaos won't occur once again, and the ghost that I'm using will be frightening but not too frightening, you know, so people won't end up having any heart-attacks or run screaming from the festival and stuff." Laney gave her friend a disgusted look, she could not believe he was doing this, but she decided to digress and go with it anyway, "Fine, get on with it."

"Okay then," Corey perked up as he walked towards the center of the room, "Let's begin. Both of you step back, please." Laney and Tommy stepped back from the center ash Corey raised his arms and started wiggling his fingers. He began to chant his spell three times, "Fures nocte impius iniquus, egressus est in nobis a tenebris noctis excitabatur. Terrorem ac pavorem Exite; lunam egressus obumbravit. Veni, iam non ibi sunt spiritus, malorum nugas efficere desperatione malorum Vocans trium tibi omnia nuda et nutibus animarum. Venite, serviet mihi!" Suddenly there was a slight earth quake as the skies began to get cloudy and thunder and lightning appeared. A dark mist began to swirl around Corey as he began to laugh maniacally and his eyes started glowing red. Tommy was so frightened that he clung to Laney for support. Laney herself started trembling in fear as she too held on to Tommy. What on earth was Corey about to do now?

Here is the Latin to English translation of the words from Corey's spell:

"Wicked thieves of wicked nights, come forth to bright upon us a dark night. Come forth to spread terror and fright; come forth to cast a shadow over the moonlight. Come, oh spirits of those no longer there, bring about your woes and tales of despair; I call forth the wicked three, come all you forlorn, and wanton souls. Come serve me."


	5. Chapter 5: The Spell, part 3

**The Spell, part 3**

Laney and Tommy held onto eachother tightly as they quaked in fear while Corey was summoning the spirits and cackling. The laughing perplexed young Tommy, as he didn't know what to make of it. Was his cousin actually an evil sorcerer; was he a demon child in disguise? Why was he able to perform such a feat so easily years ago after two days of studying nearly a hundred spells? The thought of a few lives being taken away from people on the day of that earthquake all because his cousin wanted to perform a supernatural experiment really creeped him out. "_What other things had Corey done that he never told anyone about?" _Tommy wondered. "Um, excuse me, but is the laughing really necessary? Why are you even doing it if all we're doing is summoning ghost?"

"Yeah, Core, what's with the evil laughter?" asked Laney, still holding on to Corey's younger cousin. Corey stopped his spellbinding and leaned in towards the two of them, smiling, "It's for dramatic effect, duh!" The two of them stared at him again puzzlingly. "Look, they do this in movies all the time," he continued, "There's always this mad scientist or evil sorcerer laughing maniacally whenever they are about to do something that with drive the plot or build up to the climax; it's, like, the coolest part of the movie and stuff. So, I'm just, you know, doing it for fun. Don't take it seriously; I'm not planning anything malicious or anything." Laney and Tommy looked at eachother then at him before simultaneously releasing eachother. "Oh, okay then," They said with relief. "Geez," Corey chuckled," You guys really thought I was going to do something bad just because of my laugh?"

"Well, it's not really the laugh that is just scaring me," said Tommy, "It's the story you told us about what you did when you were little. I was having second thoughts about my choice, like, you know, I wouldn't be able to handle this task you were giving me and I'd end up making the same mistakes you did." Corey stood with his arms folded and a smirk on his face, "So, you might not want to do it then?" Tommy shook his head, "It seems like so much could go wrong tonight if I screw up, so I'll try to find some other people to help me with this so there are less risk." Corey sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Dude, there's no need to do that; I've already said that I am going to help you. And as for that story I told you two minutes ago…I-I kind of lied…a bit." Tommy gave him a baffled look, "You mean it wasn't true; you didn't cause all those deaths?"

"No, I didn't," replied Corey, "I have never killed any innocent person in my entire life. That part about the dog was true, however, and seven people did get injured from the attacks, but they weren't that severe. These people are alive and well as we speak; no one lost any lives." Laney glared at him, "Then why did you lie saying that there were?" "Because, I was hoping Tommy would have second thoughts so I wouldn't have to go through with this. I mean, yeah, I _do_ want to help you, of course, just not with spells or anything to do with witchcraft." Laney raised one eyebrow and Tommy crossed his arms. "I'm still gonna summon those ghosts for you to help make your hunted house terrifying for the Halloween festival just like you ask, said Corey as if he was making a pledge, "That is if you still want, I mean. If you don't I understand. My band and I are having a small concert there tonight anyway, and I'll be there for help if you need me. Do you still want it?" Tommy looked down at the floor, pondering about the choices. It seems that his cousin lied because he was scared of causing the same consequences as last time, and Tommy understood that; but he really wanted to impress his friends at the Halloween carnival, and he didn't want to look like a loser. Plus, Corey did say that he'll be around if he needs anything so the answer was a definite "Yes".

"Okay then, let me get back to my stuff," said Corey turning around with his hands in the air, "I'll whipped up some scary spirits for you in no time." He resumed he fake, yet very convincing evil laugh as he continued trying to summon the spirits. In just a matter of minutes, three dark mists swirled in front of Corey as he put his arms back down, suddenly there were three apparitions floating before him. One was a middle-aged looking man with an imperial mustache and plump cheeks. He had a suit that looked it came from the Victorian era and he held a steal cane that had a golden tiger at the head, nice polished shoes, and a top hat. His hair also looked sleek and was combed back. To his left was a woman who looked as young as thirty-five, and had a jovial demeanor to her. She seemed as though she also came from the Victorian era just as the man to her right. She had a beautiful, long-sleeved red and black dress, with a matching red and black church hat and black-beaded necklace. In her hand was a decorated paddle that she was fanning herself with. To her left was a man who looked about the same age. He was sipping a cup of tea while one of his hands was placed on a cane that he also had. He had a tuxedo on with a purple tie and matching cummerbund. He sported a black bowler hat and a handlebar mustache. All three ghosts were pale Caucasians with brown hair, and black shoes and an air of conceit among them.

"Well, here they are," said Corey gesturing towards the ghost as if he was presenting a work of art, "Here are your three ghosts for tonight." Tommy stepped toward them, surveying each one as they too looked down at him. "They don't look all that scary, cousin."

"Oh, but they are," Corey said putting one hand on Tommy's shoulder, "These guys may not look like they are all that frightening but, let me tell ya, they are definitely the real deal."

"How so?" asked Tommy, not convinced. "Tom, let me introduce you," said Corey, "Meet Admiral Mal Black-feather, or as his victims knew him, The Crow of Neville." He gestured towards the ghostly man with the top hat. "How do you do?" said Black-feather as he tipped his hat.

"Madame Hex, also known as the witch of Walden," Corey continued as he gestured to the woman in the church hat. "Please to meet you," said the woman. "And last but not least, Hammond, the knife concierge." Hammond offered Tommy his hand so the child could shake it, "Please to meet ya, kid." The ghostly man bore an eerie grin that frightened Tommy as he stared at the apparition nervously. Tommy raised his hand in an attempt to shake it, but just as he was about to shake his hand, Corey pulled him away. "Uh, you might not want to do that. You see, Hammond's not the type of guy whose hand you'd want to shake at all. Trust me."

"Why, is that," Tommy asked, "And why do they called him 'The Knife Concierge'?" "Because, I used to sell knives to people and make knives for people," Hammond answered. "And use knives _against_ people," Corey added as he glared at Hammond, "Don't forget that. "Oh, why yes, of course," Hammond said, grinning sheepishly as his fidgeted his fingers. "Whoa, wait a minute," Laney said steeping into the conversation, "Core, what the heck? You summoned a murderous ghost to help your little cousin out?" "Well, yeah, of course he's a murderous ghost, Lanes," said Corey smiling as he gestured towards the spirits, "They all are. We got a guy in a top hat who once sunk a ship full of people, a lady who used witchcraft and voodoo to get revenge on her enemies, and a guy who took out seven cops with the knives he sold to people, and kidnapped children at night. But, there's no need to worry your pretty little head because tonight they are going to be on their best behavior." He patted Laney on the head like she was some child, and pinched her cheek as he grinned at her. Laney responded by pinching him under his arm. "Ouch," Corey yelped as he rubbed the area where she squeezed his skin. The ghosts and Tommy looked on, snickering at the other two. Corey turned around and glared at them, and then they stopped. "As I was saying before I was _rudely _interrupted," Corey continued, pushing Laney to the side, causing her to fall over, "These ghosts _are_ going to be on their best behavior, because they are my servants for the night, and since they have to listen to my command, they have to act as your 'display monsters' for your hunted house tonight. Agreed?" The ghosts responded with exasperated sighs. "Hello, I asked if we're clear," demanded Corey. They nodded hesitantly. Tommy perked up with such a jubilant smile on his face. For once, he'd have something that would impress everyone in his class. "Oh boy, I'm so excited!" "I'm glad you are," Corey said as he rubbed his hands. He suddenly used his electro kinetic powers to zap chains onto the wrists of each ghosts and then handed the chains to Tommy. "Now go out there and have some fun, you little scamp," he said patting the child on the head, "The band and I will meet up with you at the carnival to help you set up later."

Tommy and the other ghost nodded and then they exited the bedroom with Tommy holding the chains attached to the floating ghosts that were hovering over him. It was as if he were holding three balloons. Laney got up from the floor and walked over to Corey. Corey turned around to see Laney glaring at him with a viciously cold stare. "What's a matter, Lanes," asked Corey, looking confused. Laney was flabbergasted; she was too annoyed with her idiotic best friend to even answer his question, so she just continued to give him the death glare. "Seriously, Lanes, why are you staring at me like that? Aren't you happy I helped Tommy?" How could he be so oblivious to not know what was actually wrong with her, why she was giving him a disgusted look? "No, I'm not, you dunder-head," Laney stated in a seething manner. Corey rolled his eyes and sighed, "Okay, what now then? I didn't call you up here so you can be mad at me for no reason, you know."

"Then what you call me up here for anyway if you didn't want my two cents," Laney asked, "Did I forget something important?" Corey shook his head as he rubbed his right shoulder, "No, not really. I just called you up to give me another massage. I mean you left without giving me that foot massage that you had promised earlier and I just-." "Are you serious?!" Laney asked, cutting him off, "You yell at me, call hurtful me names that honestly made me want to cry, kick me out of your bedroom, pat and pinch my cheek like I'm your little dog, barely listen to me when I say you need to finish something before the deadline arrives, pair your cousin up with evil spirits without heeding my words about how it's a _bad idea_, shove me aside like I'm some stupid toy, and all of a sudden you tell me you still have the nerve to ask me for a foot rub? Do I look like a slave to you, am I a servant, _Master Riffin_?!" "Well," Corey paused for a second, "Well, no, not really." Laney raised an eyebrow, what did he meant be 'not really'? "But, you are my best friend, and best friends do things for eachother, right?" He tried to convince her that he was being sincere by caressing her chin and touching the tip of her nose, only for her to slap away his hand like she was swatting a mosquito. "You know what?" she said, "You're a prick." She walked away, exiting his bedroom. Corey stood there alone with a hurt and confused look on his face. "What?" She didn't really mean that, he thought, she couldn't have meant that, at least he was hoping she didn't. "Laney," He called after her as he exited the room, "Lanes wait!"

**To be continued…**

**Part 4 is on its way. Yay, more excitement!**


	6. Chapter 5 and a half

"Laney…lanes…wait," Corey cried as he tried to catch up with her. She was quickly making her way down the stairs and through the kitchen entrances in order to reach the door. She placed her hands on the doorknob and tried to quickly use her other hand to unlock the door but just as she was opening it, Corey pushed it back shut. "What the heck," She exclaimed, "Let me open the door!" Corey pushed her away from the door so he could block her from her exit. "No," he said, "You're not going anywhere until we talk." "Let me leave," She pleaded angrily, "I want to go home! I don't want to stay here anymore!" "No, you're not going anywhere," yelled Corey, "You haven't even explained to me why you're so mad at me! What's your problem?" Laney turned away so Corey would not see the teardrop that was leaving her eyes. She was feeling a rush of hurt and anger about to flow right out of her eyes like a river. She tried wiping them away as quickly as possible before she could turn back to him and give him a piece of her mind. Corey tried to catch a glimpse of her crying; he wanted to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him. He had never really seen her cry before. She cried when she was hit in the head with a basketball thrown by some kid when the two were five and in kindergarten, playing during recess, of course, but that was the only time he ever witness her shedding any tears. He was hoping in his heart that she did not hate him for anything serious, yet at the same time, he had a feeling that he had done something completely wrong that made her walk out on him so quickly like that. He pondered a bit, tapping his chin, as he tried to figure out what error did he commit.

"Okay, okay," Laney began as she sniffled, "Now I'm going to tell you what's up." She could not stop rubbing her eyes; it's like all her teenage girl hormones were fighting to get out and it would mean that a waterfall would end up flowing from her eyes. She could not possibly be crying like this, not now. Why was she crying so much? "_Dang_," Corey thought as he looked at his emotionally ridden friend, "_Did I piss her off that much_?" "Lanes, Lanes, Lanes please," He tried to pull her hands away from her eyes so he could hold them in his hands, "Don't cry Lanes, please, don't cry." She would not stop, it was like she had lost control of her own eyes at that point because water was the only thing that was flowing out, and even snot was beginning to drip from her nose as she started to sob. He pulled her closer to himself and placed his hands on her cheeks, "Laney…stop. Okay, just stop, please, I'm begging you. Don't cry, I promise whatever is going on, we're gonna get through this together, okay?" Laney had finally stopped crying at that point, not because he managed to calm her down, but because he managed to annoy her more than he did before. Now as he said this, he was speaking in a babyish voice and even placing her head on his chest and petting it like she was a child of his or something. Normally she would like this type of treatment but this was just getting ridiculous! She was not a baby, she was a teenager, and she was going to get that through his head. "Stop babying me, Core!" She protested as she pulled away from him, noticing that he looked a little bit hurt as she did this. "Okay, okay, fine," He said backing away as he rose his hands in a hands-off manner, "I was just trying to calm you down, that's all." "Well, it didn't work," she said indignantly. Corey was stumped he didn't know what to do at that point. He tried calming her down, but it didn't work and it only made her angrier, so what was left besides asking questions?

"You want to know why I'm really mad at you, Corey Riffin," Laney asked moving closer to him as he backed up against the door, "You want to know why I'm mad at you?" Corey nodded slowly; he was a bit frightened by her angry eyes that were now piercing through him like a razor. "Because you're a jerk, a big fat, pig-faced, stubborn, conceited, never-listens-to-anyone-but-himself-and-totally-ignores- advice-from-anyone-else, big, dumb jerk and I cannot take another minute of your dumbass brand of jerkassery any longer!" "_Whoa, that was harsh"_, Corey thought, "_That kind of hurt actually_." Corey placed his hand on his chest, he could feel the sting of those words hit right there. "And furthermore, I cannot take how after all the stuff I have done for you today and all the things I did for you last week, you decide it's okay to start yelling at me and calling me names, and shoving me out of the way like it's none of my business what kind of stuff is going on and I'm just getting in the way when all I was just trying to do was help you out! I'm not some "servant girl who works for you in your rinky-dink little mansion" you know," she said with a wave of her hand, "I'm the band manager!"


End file.
